Eagles-Patriots Practice Notes: Jalen Hurts finishes strong, defense bounces back

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FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 19: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts during a joint practice with the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on August 19, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Today marked the fourteenth Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2026 NFL season. It was another action-packed joint training camp session against the New England Patriots. Here’s what I observed up at the New Balance Athletics Center in the shadow of Gillette Stadium from Foxborough, Massachusetts!

EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES

  • OVERALL PERFORMANCE: The Pats gave the Eagles a run for their money but I’d say the Birds ultimately looked like the better team in this practice. It was a good response after the Eagles “lost” Day 1. Kudos to Nick Sirianni for having the players ready to compete.
  • EAGLES INJURY REPORT: BGN’s Alexis Chassen covered today’s injury report in a separate article. The big news is that Makai Lemon took another step towards returning; still no team drill activity but the rookie receiver did some position drill work today. Also of note: Jalen Carter was excused due to personal reasons.
  • JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts overcame a slow start to finish strong.
    • Hurts threw a short pass to Hollywood Brown over the middle that was tipped and picked off. Hurts threw another interception to the left sideline where the defender got in front of his target to make the toe-tapping grab. Hurts is now up to 11 interceptions in camp, which is a lot for him relative to previous years. Despite this, I do think he’s having a more encouraging summer than not. He’s generally passed the eye test.
    • Hurts threw a touchdown to Dallas Goedert over the middle in the end zone. The tight end celebrated by dunking the ball over the goal post, which drew a penalty from a referee (seriously).
    • Hurts threw another touchdown over the middle to Dontayvion Wicks.
    • Hurts hit Wicks again for first down yardage.
    • Hurts should’ve had another touchdown throw to Tank Bigsby … but he didn’t get enough air on the ball to float it over a Pats defender who instead ended up batting it into the air for an incompletion.
    • The offense went through some uneven stretches where they struggled but Hurts finished practice strong during the red zone scrimmage setting when everyone was focused on the same field (as opposed to the players being split on two fields like they were earlier in practice).
      • Hurts moved the offense into goal-to-go from about the 4-yard line with a completion to Wicks along the left sideline. On the next rep, he rolled right and found Hollywood Brown in the back of the end zone … but the receiver wasn’t able to keep two feet in.
      • Hurts responded with a tight window connection with Brown to beat former Eagle Kindle Vildor for a touchdown. The Eagles went for a two-point conversion on the next rep and Hurts once again rolled right to float a ball back left to Darius Cooper for the successful try. Hurts put nice touch to get it over the defender and DC did a nice job of uncovering.
  • Quinyon Mitchell had a rough day against A.J. Brown. Practice between the two teams started with another A.J. vs. Q rep. Brown made a one-handed grab … that was ruled incomplete by the nearby referee. But it looks like Brown may have gotten both feet in before going out of bounds (see videos below). There was no ambiguity about Brown beating Mitchell in 2-on-2 reps; the former Eagles wide receiver caught three touchdowns going up Philly’s All-Pro cornerback. Mitchell got flagged for either holding or pass interference on a pass to Brown that wasn’t completed. Brown later caught another touchdown with Mitchell trailing in 11-on-11. That wasn’t even a good pass, either; Drake Maye threw behind Brown … but the receiver made the grab regardless. Just not used to seeing Mitchell get beat with that kind of frequency. But, hey, Brown is clearly still an elite receiver.
  • CHIPPY: Things got chippy early on, which is to be expected after one day of two teams practicing against each other. The heated action first took place on the field with the Eagles’ defense going up against the Patriots’ offense. There was a scrum of bodies after Cooper DeJean originally thudded a Patriots running back in the hole and then Nolan Smith came in for some extra contact. A Patriots offensive lineman didn’t appreciate that much from Smith and let him know about it. Later, on the field with the Eagles’ offense and the Patriots’ defense, Jordan Mailata got into it with the Pats’ defense. And then Lane Johnson got into it with a defender.
  • Riq Woolen bounces back! It wasn’t a perfect day for the Eagles’ starting cornerback. But after really struggling on Wednesday, Woolen was a net positive on Thursday. Woolen allowed a touchdown to Romeo Doubs in 2-on-2 but later broke up a fade pass to the receiver in 11-on-11. After that deflection, Woolen gave the Patriots crowd a finger wag and did the seatbelt celebration. Nolan Smith also hyped him up with a “Let’s go, 2!” Woolen got beat by Doubs again but it wasn’t even bad coverage; the ball went JUST past his outstretched hand in tight coverage. And the very next time Woolen was targeted, he jumped a route to catch a Maye pass towards A.J. Brown for a likely pick six. Woolen did then allow a touchdown to Doubs where he looked either confused about his responsibility and/or caught up by a pick play. But Woolen also got his hand in on a ball originally caught by A.J. Brown to rip it out and up into the air to create a Jalyx Hunt interception. There are probably going to be some real ups and downs with Woolen this season. I’m expecting more good than bad on the whole but it’s going to be a bumpy ride at times.
  • Speaking of Jalyx Hunt, he produced two takeaways today. In addition to the pick, there was a rep where he simply stole the ball away from Rhamondre Stevenson’s hands for an instant forced fumble and recovery. I love the aesthetic of that kind of play where the ball doesn’t even touch the ground. Hunt is a beast. He’s had an awesome summer.
  • Speaking of studs, Zack Baun. I forgot to include he had a really good downfield pass breakup from a trail position in tight coverage yesterday. He knocked down a Maye pass today. Can’t recall watching an Eagles linebacker in person who’s been better in coverage.
  • More 1-on-1 videos:
    • Second day in a row where Dontayvion Wicks really shook a corner with his route-running.
  • Cooper DeJean allowed some more catches to DeMario Douglas today.
  • Michael Carter II undercut a Patriots tight end’s route to knock down a would-be touchdown pass in 1-on-1s. Nice rep. Marcus Epps also looked good to me in 1-on-1. Didn’t notice him get beat when I was watching him.
  • The Eagles’ defense was not fooled by the Patriots’ attempts at some trick plays. Good discipline by Vic Fangio’s unit.
  • Arnold Ebiketie “sacked” Tommy DeVito. Ebiketie seems like a good rotational edge rusher to have.
  • BACKUP QUARTERBACK COMPETITION UPDATE: Tanner McKee was first up as QB2 today after Andy Dalton went first yesterday. However, Dalton took QB2 reps in the scrimmage setting towards the end of practice while McKee did not. (Side note: No Cole Payton reps today but he figures to see plenty of preseason game snaps.)
    • I was more focused on the Eagles’ defense on the other field when McKee was in but I did see him leading a drive with some good completions.
    • Dalton’s end of practice series wasn’t good. He threw a pass short and incomplete to a diving Quez Watkins, who tried to salvage the bad ball for a completion. Dalton did find Watkins to set up the offense up with goal-to-go … but then he overthrew Eli Stowers in the end zone, giving the rookie tight end zero chance to catch the ball in bounds. Dalton also appeared to find Samari Toure way too late in the front right corner of the end zone. A better throw probably would’ve been a touchdown instead of a pass breakup.
  • Not the best day for Johnny Mundt. He dropped (or at least failed to catch) a couple passes in 2-on-2s. He did make a first down catch along the left sideline.
  • Really liked the way Cam Latu bounced off some Pats defenders after a short catch-and-run. Again, no tackling in practice, but he looked like would’ve been tough to bring down in a real game setting.
  • I liked the physicality that Andre’ Sam brought to today’s practice. He was really laying the wood as a run defender, as far as non-tackling practice standards go. He did get flagged for a penalty on the final rep of practice … and then slipped and fell on his butt.
  • Feel like I saw Kelee Ringo get beat a good amount over the past two days.
  • New guy Isaiah Bolden had a PBU for the second day in a row. But then he allowed a touchdown over the top to his former teammate, Kayshon Boutte.
  • Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie attended today’s practice. He arrived and departed in a helicopter.
  • For some Patriots perspective on today’s practice, be sure to check out our associates over at Pats Pulpit. Additionally, here are some more Pats-perspective takes:

UP NEXT: The Eagles have no media availability on Friday prior to Saturday night’s preseason game against the New England Patriots. Start time is set for 7:00 PM Eastern. Stay tuned to BGN for coverage!

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